AJ Hinch #40 keeps the ball in front of him as he checks the runners on base against the Indians at Comerica Park on June 19, 2003. (Photo by Tom Pidgeon/Getty Images)
In 2003, former Detroit Tigers star Alan Trammell returned to the Motor City to manage the Tigers. One of the players on his first team, catcher AJ Hinch, has become the newest Tigers, manager. Although the 2003 Tigers season is memorable for all the wrong reasons, Hinch’s time as a Tigers player isn’t as well-remembered.
Near the end of spring training in 2003, the Tigers picked AJ Hinch up from the Indians after he lost the battle to be Cleveland’s backup catcher.